1976 Ferrari Rainbow (Bertone)

The Rainbow signalled Bertone’s return, after nearly 15 years, to the Ferrari theme, this time with a freer interpretation. While the design of the Dino 308 GT4 represented a blend of sobriety and tradition, the Rainbow is an experiment in unconventional styling. In fact there were no intentions to put this model into production, and Bertone was able to interpret the theme without any constraints but functionality. The chassis was the same one used for the 308 GT4, teamed with the generous 250 Hp engine. Shortened by 10 cm, the chassis gives the vehicle a compact, aggressive feel. The prototype, which was presented at the 1976 Turin Motor Show, immediately stood out for its design peculiarities: first and foremost for the originality of the mechanical hood mechanism which stows the hood away behind the seats. This was a solution for the transformation from spider to coupé and back again in a context - that of the two-in-one car - that had long captured the imagination of designers the world over.

The unconventional Ferrari Rainbow represented faith in the automobile industry, in a period in Italian history which favoured stylistic conformity over experimentation into new design concepts.

Ferrari claims that its new 458 Spider is the first mid-engined sports car with a retractable hard-top, but this isn’t entirely true: the 1976 Bertone-styled Ferrari Rainbow concept car employed the same layout and a similar folding roof setup – 35 years ago. Unlike its modern counterpart, though, the Rainbow's roof required manual work to remove, fold and stow in the back.

The angular proportions of the car no doubt lean heavily on the fact that the Rainbow was never proposed as a precursor to a mass-production model. This gave legendary styling house Bertone – and its head designer Marcello Gandini – the freedom to experiment with the Ferrari ethos and design language, the wedge profile and dramatic 90-degree lines having never before been seen on a car bearing the Prancing Horse badge.

Ironically, the car might have made a good case for production had it been released half a decade later. When it was first shown in 1976, the public’s eyes were only just adjusting to the controversial shapes of the Gandini-designed Lamborghini Countach and Ferrari 308 GT4 (on which the Rainbow was based), after becoming accustomed to the swooping lines of the Miura and 246 ‘Dino’ of previous years. But the 1980s saw angular surfacing applied throughout the automotive design industry, meaning that a wedge-shaped Ferrari could have made sense.

What did make sense was the folding roof: a one-piece targa-style cover which rotated 90 degrees before being snugly stored between the passenger compartment and mid-rear-mounted 3.0-litre V8. Though manually operated, the mechanism can be considered as a basic interpretation of the now-perfected two-piece ensemble used 35 years later in the 458 Spider. A commendable achievement given that even from its conception, the fate of the Rainbow lay on the cutting-room floor of automotive history.

The Rainbow is believed to currently reside in Bertone’s private museum collection, having narrowly avoided the lotlist for the RM Auctions Villa d’Este sale in March 2011, at which six of its conceptual Bertone brethren were sold to private collectors.

Единственным, пожалуй, концептом Ferrari не от Pininfarina стало показанное в 1976 году в Турине купе 308GT Rainbow. Его сделало ателье Bertone на платформе серийного 308GT4. Клиновидный, нарочито угловатый кузов, со съемной жесткой крышей, которая в убранном положении помещалась за спинками сидений, был создан по мотивам серийного спортивного FIAT X1/9.